Rural Baseball

WHAT DO YOU GET when you combine the innocence of youth with baseball? Flickr member lanier67 captured the answer perfectly with this charming photo. There is no real baseball bat, nor is there a real baseball. All these two kids needed was part of a tree branch and a pine cone, and it doesn't get any more natural than that.

(Photo credit: flickr/lanier67)

Statues at Nationals Park

IT FEELS LIKE THIS IS TURNING INTO a Washington Nationals blog, just that you really ought to see these recently unveiled statues of Walter Johnson, Frank Howard and Josh Gibson outside of Nationals Park created by sculptor Omri Amrany. Make your own judgments about them. Love, dislike or apathy? Yes, those are multiple limbs, balls and bats.







(Photo credits: flickr/Shelley935)

Misty Fall Baseball

DID YOU THINK of the movie Field of Dreams when you saw this photo? This is actually taken from a game in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, according to the photographer. There are a few things that make this a great photo. The fog. Fog is dramatic and has a tendency to suspend our sense of reality. It creates a mystery where details are unclear and leaves us in wonder. In particular, that the outfielder's feet disappears into the ground makes it almost seem as if he's floating. The outfielder's relaxed pose is also quite calming to the viewer. Had he been in a more tense and tucked position, the mood would be dramatically different yet still effective. Another nice aspect of this photo is the sense of depth established by the foreground and background via the simplest of details. The edge of the infield dirt defines the foreground while the chain-linked fence stands in the background. The photo doesn't need anymore detail and gives us just enough to make us ponder the game of baseball.

(Photo credit: flickr/Sister72)

Safeco Field: A Well Rounded View

KNOWN AS A PITCHER'S PARK, Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, in this picture, is vast yet intimate. This fish eye lens shot not only gives us that sense of peering into a ball game, it also captures the wonderful tension between a warmly lit ball field and the cool weather above. There are many wide angle shots of stadiums out there, but the majority of them are taken behind homeplate. This one is refreshing because the shot was taken relatively high up, thus making the shot less claustrophobic, and because the vastness of the outfield grass is at center stage rather than the infield. It effectively makes the ballpark seem larger to the naked eye.

In addition to the field itself, my eye is naturally drawn to the man with the cutoff tee and grey cap. Isn't Seattle too cold at night to be wearing short sleeves? Or is this one of those rare warm summer nights we've been hearing about up there? Whatever the case may be, the man looks comfortable and engaged in the game, and his proximity makes me feel like I'm there next to him watching the ball game.

(Photo credit: flickr/ArtBrom)